It's no secret -- following extensive surgery to repair the multiple injuries in his left leg, Rey Mysterio is coming back to WWE. Nearly nine months after suffering both a ruptured ACL and a torn patella tendon at the hands of Chavo Guerrero, the former World Champion and in-ring innovator is returning to the ring.

Knowing that, if you were the individual who obstructed Mysterio's perch at the pinnacle of sports-entertainment, would you feel a little worried as his long-awaited return grew closer? Maybe not… but only if your last name was Guerrero.

"Me, worry? I'm a Guerrero; we don't worry," Chavo claimed. "Why would I be worried about someone like Rey Mysterio? He's Mexican, so he's got a lot of heart and he's a great competitor -- I can't take that away from him. But he'd be stupid to ever cross my path again."

The last time our fans saw Mysterio compete was in an "I Quit" Match last October, when Chavo rigged Rey's leg in the SmackDown set's lighting structure and repeatedly bashed his leg with a chair. Six strikes from the steel weapon sent Mysterio away from the ring and kept him from exacting a measure of revenge against his former lifelong friend.

"Do lifelong friends try to steal your name?" asked Chavo. "[Rey] stole my moves and my family's moves. What I did to him was me just trying to make a point: He needed to stop acting like a Guerrero."

According to Chavo, he doubts that the high-flying fan-favorite will ever be the same after the "valuable lesson I taught Rey." Many would argue, however, that perhaps the bad-tempered Guerrero is just telling himself that in the wake of Rey's return.

"You saw what I did to him when he was at 100 percent," Chavo reminded WWE.com. "Now it's in question that he's going to be the same. I know Rey, and I know he's not going to come my way."

At The Great American Bash one year ago, it was Chavo's carefully executed plan of deception that cost Mysterio the World Title against King Booker. This betrayal would yield a series of hard-fought contests between both men, though ultimately end unresolved with Rey's career-threatening injury.

"It was never my intention to end his career," he protested. "If I really wanted to end it, I could have. I would have just gone to his house and beaten him up in front of his family."

It is that same ruthless, unabated focus that makes Chavo not only a dangerous competitor, but also a successful one. After his war with Mysterio, the relentless Guerrero turned his attention to championship gold and seized the Cruiserweight Title. In his reign -- which only ended just one week ago at The Great American Bash -- Chavo honed his abilities and perfected his craft.

"[Since last year,] I've gotten better," Chavo asserted. "I've been competing the whole time Rey's been gone and I've had a lot of matches since the last time we met. I've gotten better, stronger and faster.

"I thought I was in my prime then; I'm in my prime now."

It remains to be seen exactly what type of condition or mentality the Master of the 619 will have upon his return. But the mentality of the man arguably to blame for Mysterio's ring absence is certain: He's indifferent. However, Chavo warned that if Rey does decide to seek retribution, he may end up back in his San Diego home recuperating for yet another extended period of time -- courtesy of the pugnacious Guerrero.

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